FRONTYARD FEATURES BECOMES A NOT-FOR-PROFIT

Popular outdoor-movie company brings the St. Louis community together through film

January 4, 2011 (St. Louis, MO) – Frontyard Features is its entering sixth season with a new mission: truly free movies for all. The organization is proud to announce it has formed a 501(c)(3) to raise money and screen films in neighborhoods throughout the region.

“We are excited to be reorganized as a not-for-profit, allowing us the flexibility to bring great, free films to the residents of the St. Louis region,” said Martin Casas, owner of Frontyard Features. “Instead of screening just a couple of films 30 times over the summer, we now have the ability to offer a wide variety of movies that some neighborhood associations may not have been able to afford otherwise.”

Frontyard Features will create a diverse schedule of both classic and modern films, plus movies that reflect (or were even filmed in) particular neighborhoods.

“Imagine watching Escape from New York at the Schlafly Tap Room – a building from one of the movie's iconic scenes – or The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery at the Southwest Bank building on Kingshighway,” said Casas.

Other possibilities include Meet Me in St. Louis in Forest Park, The Great Gatsby in Hyde Park, The Dark Knight on the rooftop of a downtown building, or Brick by Chance and Fortune (by local filmmaker Bill Streeter) on a brick wall at the Lemp Brewery.

Hosts will receive a list of films from which to choose when their neighborhood is selected for a screening. Additionally, they will have the option to pay to license films that do not appear on the list.

Frontyard Features will partner with neighborhood businesses, community service agencies, and other not-for-profits to reach out to local moviegoers.

St. Louis residents can become members of the not-for-profit for just $10 a year, which includes an annual T-shirt and bumper sticker. Beginning now, outdoor-movie enthusiasts can vote on a new name for the new venture at www.fyfoutdoormovies.com.

“We want the residents of this region to know this is their movie series, so we want their input from the get-go,” added Casas. “Frontyard Features has always been for the neighborhoods. The goal is to make all of St. Louis a movie theater.”